I came across this article last night, in the New Zealand Herald newspaper dated the 5th of April 1940, and was very surprised to read that, according to this, RAF Coastal Command operated its own Spitfires in early 1940. Does anyone know if it’s true (as there was a lot of propaganda flying about at the time), and if it is true, which squadron/s operated them?
DUEL OVER SEA
SPITFIRE AND HEINKEL
BOTH MACHINES DOWN
ALL AIRMEN RESCUED
By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received April 4, 7.40 p.m.) LONDON. April 1
After a thrilling combat 12 miles off the Yorkshire coast yesterday afternoon, a pilot of the Coastal Command flying a Supermarine Spitfire fighter shot down a Heinkel bomber reconnaissance machine, and his own aeroplane also crashed in flames into the sea. Both the British pilot and the German crew were rescued and brought ashore.
The British machine was the first unit of the Coastal Command lost in the war, and the Heinkel was the 52nd victim of the Coastal Command.
The crew of the Heinkel were picked up by a fishing boat, whose skipper said: “When the Heinkel came overhead during the combat my brother Tom let go with the Lewis gun. The aeroplane came down in the sea a quarter of a mile away. One of the crew who spoke English said the Spitfire had partly disabled one of the Heinkel’s engines, and our shots did the rest.”
Pilot’s Vivid Messages
The pilot of the Spitfire gave a vivid running description of the fight. Listeners heard him announce that he had made contact with the Heinkel, then that he had shot it down. There came a pause, after which the pilot said briefly: “I am on fire. I am landing on the sea.” The official wireless commentator yesterday stated that the German Air Force carried out no fewer than 15 different raids over the east coast of Britain on Tuesday.
German Claim Refuted
The German news agency says German bombers at midday successfully attacked a British convoy in the northern section of the North Sea. The Admiralty announces: “Enemy aircraft attacked a convoy yesterday afternoon and dropped 15 bombs without hitting any ship or doing any damage. The aircraft were driven off by the fire of escorting warships. One Heinkel attacked another convoy, but was driven off by the – Fleet Air Arm and aircraft.”
The Spitfire shot down yesterday was the only loss suffered during the German raids on the British coast and convoys.
By: Sopwith - 20th March 2023 at 11:07
Yes I believe that you are right NewQldSpitty, I seem to remember seeing pictures of them with an asymmetric pod on port wing for carrying a dinghy.
By: NewQldSpitty - 20th March 2023 at 10:56
Weren’t some Spits trialed with dinghy pods under their wings for quick response rescues?
By: 1batfastard - 20th March 2023 at 02:17
Hi All,
dhfan – Apologies to you and everyone else, I omitted to include Fighter Command in my opening statement but have now amended this… ( Memo to self always proof read before posting! )
Geoff.
By: dhfan - 19th March 2023 at 01:21
According to wiki Coastal Command couldn’t manage in the early part of the war until it got it’s act together in1942, while this was going on it was the RAF who stepped up and managed things.
Coastal Command IS RAF like all the other Commands. Fighter, Bomber, Transport, Training, etc..
Offhand, I can’t remember if Coastal Command ever operated Spitfires but I’d be extremely surprised to find any had been allocated to them at that stage of the war when every single one mattered.
I would have thought they’d still be struggling through with Ansons and the like.
By: 1batfastard - 18th March 2023 at 23:49
Hi All,
According to wiki Coastal Command couldn’t manage in the early part of the war until it got it’s act together in1942, while this was going on it was the RAF Fighter Command who stepped up and managed things.
” But the command could not protect English Channel convoys, and was forced to abandon operations until July 1940. RAF Fighter Command was given the task, supplying air attack and defence with the enemy”
However they did have some Fairy Battles so could the German misidentified the aircraft ? If not then obviously Coastal Command Spitfire is a misnomer and I would look at RAF loss records for the set time period after all the search clues are all there.
Yorkshire East Coast – Nth &Sth / Spitfire units Sqdns based in area / Heinkel reconnaissance aircraft losses / Fishing boat – Ports / German attacks:- ENG Press:- ” the German Air Force carried out no fewer than 15 different raids over the east coast of Britain on Tuesday” & GER Press:- ” The German news agency says German bombers at midday successfully attacked a British convoy in the northern section of the North Sea.”
” The Spitfire shot down yesterday was the only loss suffered during the German raids on the British coast and convoys. ” This is one of the best clues IMPO, so you are looking for a Spitfire that was shot down off the Nth Yorkshire coast basically and it was the only one ever.
A couple of oddities in the article:- Fishing boat and a lewis gun Q – Were Civi fishing boats armed in WW2 ? / Having said all the above I did notice the date, so was it a fools day stretch of the truth to buck the Civi’s up ?
All references courtesy of original post and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Coastal_Command#Commanders_in_Chief
Geoff.
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March 18, 2023 at 9:08 pm